Discover Blissful Beauty In Paradise Glenorchy New Zealand
Discover blissful beauty in the forest at Paradise Glenorchy New Zealand.
Paradise! I finally made it to the blissful beauty that is Paradise near Glenorchy, New Zealand. The forest in Paradise, that many Tolkien Middle Earth fans would recognize from the Sir Peter Jackson classic movies, was a highlight of my visit to the South Island of New Zealand.
Paradise is a quiet and serene forested area around 45 minutes drive from Queenstown and 30 minutes drive from Glenorchy, New Zealand. Featured in The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings films, Paradise is a mystical place dominated by the color green, a blissful beauty where time seems to stand still.
How Did Paradise Get It’s Name?
It’s uncertain how Paradise got it’s name. The following nearby landmarks do such a biblical theme:
Rock of Eden
Heavens Gate
River Jordan (actually a ford)
A less celestial alternative is that some folks say Paradise gets its name from the Paradise duck.
Where is Paradise New Zealand?
Paradise, at least in this case, is not so much a specific place, but an area.
Situated on the eastern side of the Dart River, at the head of Lake Wakatipu, Paradise is just a short drive from the popular tourist township of Glenorchy in the Otago region on New Zealand’s South Island.
The Road To Paradise, Glenorchy New Zealand
Glenorchy is, theoretically, about a 45 minute drive from Queenstown. However, it’s an extremely scenic drive and you’ll more than likely want to stop to make photos.
I’d allow an hour and a half for the trip, each way. That’s because the light could be even better on the way back to Queenstown.
Hot Tip For Traveling to Paradise Glenorchy
While sealed the road to Paradise is narrow and winding. Frankly, some folks zip along that road like there’s no tomorrow. This can make scouting, let alone stopping for photos quite precarious.
To ensure your drive between Queenstown and Glenorchy is a fun and safe experience I’d recommend you leave early in the morning. That should ensure you’ll avoid traffic and, hopefully, benefit from sublime light.
The road from Glenorchy to Paradise is also beautiful, but much less trafficked.
In fact it becomes a gravel road quite quickly and, on my trip, there were two spots along the road that I was quite worried about crossing in my hire car. But, with care, I made across without any trouble.
Nonetheless, unless you have a 4WD it’s probably a good idea to check with folks in Glenorchy as to the road conditions before driving onto Paradise, particularly if it’s been raining.
I wouldn’t want your trip to Paradise becoming a road to Hell.
From Glenorchy you’ll travel above the picturesque Glenorchy Lagoon until you reach a junction. Turing left will take you to Kinloch, but you’ll want to continue straight onto Paradise.
Stopping Off At Diamond Lake
Going nice a slow it’s about a 30 minute drive to Paradise though, if you have the time, a stop off at Diamond Lake is well worth it. It’s another quite sublime spot and the hike to the lake is fun.
Diamond Lake is 17km, 9km of which is unsealed, from Glenorchy. There’s some lovely walks at the lake and it’s possible to camp by the shores of Diamond Lake, assuming the condition of the road is in reasonable condition at the time you visit.
Under favorable weather conditions the view of Diamond Lake can be quite enchanting.
Things To Do In Paradise, New Zealand
Eventually you’ll pass the famous Paradise road sign. Other than pretty landscapes and sheep it may, at first, appear that there’s not much else to see.
But look out for the Paradise Trust Homestead and a lovely walk which starts from a point close to the homestead.
While most folks would visit Paradise on a day trip from Queenstown or Glenorchy there’s a variety of accommodation options available in Paradise.
Needless to say some advice from the locals might make all the difference if you’re looking to find a great walk or a classic view of the area.
I traveled to Paradise with a companion and we were quite pushed for time. But I so much wanted to photograph the forested area where scenes from the Lord Of The Rings were filmed.
We kept driving past a forested area and onto a dead end at the Dart River. I understand you can take a jet boat trip to this point from Glenorchy and then follow a 30 minute walk through the nearby forest.
Exploring the Paradise Trust
Paradise Trust is a property that was purchased back in 1998. The trust operates as a not-for-profit with all funds invested back into the maintenance of the property.
Constructed in 1883, there’s a house on the 128 hectare property which operated as a guest house for over 50 years. They were the days when guests would make the 2-hour horse and buggy trip to Paradise from Glenorchy.
These days the Paradise Trust offers several accommodation options.
Off-grid backcountry style huts and historic cottages
Boutique accommodation
It’s also possible for visitors who are not staying overnight to explore the property and, in doing so, to avail themselves of an accessible wilderness experience.
Fallen tree decomposing on the forest floor in Paradise, Glenorchy, New Zealand.
Exploring The Forest Is To Enter Into Paradise
After spending some time admiring the Dart River we then turned back and began our drive back to Queenstown.
But, almost immediately, I knew I had to stop.
With brightly lit open farmland on our right and a dark, dense forest on the left I felt I just had to walk over to those trees and cross the verge to see what lay beyond the veil.
Now try to tell me that's not a metaphor for life, particularly for the intrepid traveller in us all.
Once I walked into the forest, and my eyes adjusted to the lower levels of illumination beneath the canopy, I was in awe.
The first thing you notice when entering a forest is light.
Once you pass the veil from the brighter outer world, and cross into the forest proper, your eyes begin to adapt to the significantly lower levels of illumination.
Suddenly, what appears as an impenetrable wall of darkness from the roadside is revealed as a world of light and color.
In fact it’s probably more correct to say that, at first, the forest appears much brighter than expected.
Then, as the cones in your eye's kick in, a world of green is revealed.
It really was another world and I was immediately seduced by the timeless and ethereal quality of what felt like an ancient forest.
The forest at Paradise is truly a mysterious place. I could have stayed for hours in that one place, though I also wanted to head off and explore.
Sadly time was against me. So I set up my camera and made the few pictures that illustrate this post.
Should you have the good fortune to journey to Paradise a walk in the forest, near where the gravel road meets the Dart River, should definitely be on your Things To Do In Paradise bucket list.
Lord Of The Rings and the Hobbit Locations Around Glenorchy New Zealand
One of the great things about a trip to Paradise is that you’ll have the chance to explore several of the locations used in The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings motion picture films.
For a Tolkien tragic, such as myself, visiting these locations takes a New Zealand holiday to an entirely new level.
Do you remember Orthanc, the black tower of Isengard in the Wizards Vale?
Initially built by the Dúnedain, Isengard was gifted to the wizard Saruman the White long before the time in which the Lord Of The Rings was set.
In Sir Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings epic film trilogy Isengard is set in the Dart Valley just north of the lovely village of Glenorchy.
With a little research you’ll be able to find an overview of the site before you drive on to explore Paradise.
Scenes depicting the ethereal Lothlórien, “The heart of Elvendom on earth”, were filmed in the Paradise forest.
Paradise was also the setting for the house of Beorn, the skin-changer from the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
What remains of a fallen forest giant in Paradise, Glenorchy, New Zealand.
Blissful Beauty And The Photographer As Time Traveler
As I write I'm wondering about how time seems to move more slowly within the borders of a forest.
Perhaps there's some deep collective memory from our primal past, when dinosaurs roamed.
I remember being attracted to the mosses that carpeted the fallen trees. It's as if they foretell our own, inevitable demise.
It seems to me that such metaphors of decay strike deep within our psyche.
Maybe that's why this kind of subject matter connects with us on such a profound level.
While the green of the forest at Paradise was beautiful and so very peaceful it’s also a little scary being in such an enclosed environment, on your own, for an extended period of time.
Nonetheless, it’s a very special experience sitting in the forest, breathing the air and submitting to the quiet.
It’s a primal experience and, providing you don’t get spooked, it must be good for the mind and for the soul.
That’s my experience of Paradise near Glenorchy in New Zealand. I can’t wait till I return.
